A NEWBORN foal may find it grows up with a spotty exterior and a sturdy survival instinct if its parents are anything to go by.

The miniature Shetland which arrived at Bocketts Farm Park in Fetcham on May 8 is a light chestnut colour, and staff believe she is likely to inherit the appearance of her father, a spotted pony.

Her mother Dolly, meanwhile, has been at the farm for five years having been rescued from a yard where she had been in a starving and neglected condition.

Since then she has regained her health and this is the third foal she has had.

It will be visitors to the farm who will decide the name given to the foal in a competition ending on June 6, and there are expected to be a flood of entries if her initial popularity is anything to go by.